Kjkfbigbratietg apparatus



Sept. 30, 1924.

G. MCFARLAND REFRIGERATXNG APPARATUS Fivled June 9, 1921 Patented Sept.30, 1924.

UNITED STATES GEORGE MCFARLAND, 0F FORT MADISON, IOWA.

REFRIGERATING .AFPARATUS.

Application filed June 9,

To all iti/wm t may concern.'

Be it known that l, Geenen h'loFAnLxNn. a citizen ot the United States,and a resident ot Fort Madison, in the county ot Lee and State oi Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RefrigeratingApparatus, ot which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, formingpart ot this specification.

My invention relates more particularly to the smaller type ofretrigerating apparatus such as used in residences although it iscapable ot use in other sizes and for other' One object of my inventionis the provision oit' a simple and compact compressor.

Another object ot' my invention is the provision of means for connectingand operating the compressor so that by the employment of a simplethermostatic switch, the whole apparatus will be automatic.

Other objects of my invention will appear and be described in thespecification.

The novelty of my invention will be hereinatter more fully set forth andspecifically pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of anapparatus embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view oi the upper portion of the compressor, theview being taken through one of the cylinders thereof and transverselyoit the position shown in Fig. 1.

The saine numerals of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the iigures.

As illustrating one 'form ot device embodying my invention, I have shownan apparatus consisting ot a motor 1 which carries a fly wheel 2 and agovernor 3 which controls a clutch i carried by the compressor driveshaft 5. The shatt 5 extends through a stuliing box and bearing carrier6 and into the base 7 of the compressor and carries the drive pinion 8which meshes with the gear 9 carried on the crank shaft 10 to which theconnecting rods 11 are connected, these rods extending upward and beingconnected to the plunger 12,.the upper end ot each plunger forming apiston in a cylinder 13 formed in the upper portion ot the frame 11i otthe compressor.

The crank shaft 10 is mounted, preferably by means ot anti-frictionbearings 15 1921. Serial No. 476,251.

in a housing 16 carried by the base 7, the lower end ot the plunger 12being guided. in bearings 17 carried by the upper portion oit thehousing 16.

A valve box or head 18, shown more clearly in Fig. 2, is mounted overeach of the cylinders 13 and contains a disk valve 19 held in its seatby a spring 20 and conned to its position and limited. in its movementby the cap 21. rlhe valve box is held in position by suitable cap orVother screws 22 and each valve box is provided with an outlet pipe 23which passes through a stutling box 24e in the removable side 25 of theremovable water jacket 26 which. surrounds the valve box. p

Each cylinder is provided with an annular inlet port 27 whichcommunicates with an inlet passage 28 to which the inlet pipe 29, Fig.`1, is connected, the inlet port 27 being located adjacent the lowerposition ot the upper portion of the plunger 12. To reduce the clearancevolume in each cylinder when its plunger is in its upper position, aprojection 30 is carried by each plunger which iills the space betweenthe valve 19 and the upper end ot the cylinder.

The base 7 ot the compressor is mounted on an oil trap 31 which isprovided with partitions 32, the latter being` provided with passages 33thus forming a number of compartments in which any liquid particlescarried by the compressed gas are collected and from which they mayi betransferred to the crank case ot the compressor through a pipe 34, thelatter being controlled by a valve 35, the outlet pipe 23 from eachvalve box being connected to a header 3G from which the pipe 37 extendsto the separator 31.

A pipe 38 leads frein the separator 31 to the condenser 39 from which apipe 40 leads to the pressure reducing valve elfi, and from the latter apipe 4t2 extends to the retrigerating coil or other device, the returnfrom the retrigerating device being from the pipe t3 to the scale trap44 which is connected to the inlet pipe 29.

A water pipe 45 which is controlled by a valve 4.6 arranged to be openedby lever i7, the latter being operated by the shitting ot the clutch 4l,leads to the condenser 39, the return being through pipe 48 to the waterjacket 26 from which the outlet pipe 29 conducts the waste water.

The stuiiing box 6 contains a plurality of packing rings 50 held inplace by a nut 51 and compressed by a suring 52, the latter being in achamber which is in communication with whatever pressure may begenerated in the crank case ot' the compressor' to the end that thispressure will be communicated to the packing rings in addition to thepressure ot the spring 52 so that the stufling box will be automaticallytightened against leakage by an increase in pressure in the crank caseof the compressor.

The shaft 5 ot' the compressor is preterably mounted on antifrictionbearings as shown, similar bearings being also used in the crank ends ofthe connecting rods 11. The discharge valves 19 and associated parts maybe removed from the machine by disconnecting the water pipe 48 and 49and removing the water jacket 26, after which it desired the caps 21 maybe removed or if it is desired to remove the valve box 18 the bolts 22may be removed and the bolts which hold the removable portion 25 oit thewater jacket whereupon, by disconnecting the pipe 37, both valve boxesmay be removed from the compressor Jfor repair or for any other reason.

The operation ot the device is as follows, assuming that tln-J apparatusis properly charged with ammonia or other refrigerating medium and thatthe motor 1 is proper'- ly connected to a source ot' current supplythrough either a manually operated switch or a thermostatic switch, orboth.

It manually controlled, the operator closes the circuit to the motorthus starting it and the fly wheel 2 which carries the governor 3whereupon, as soon as the parts have attained suflicient moment-um tooperate the governor, the clutch 4 engages the ily wheel 2 and thecompressor begins its operation. rlhe suction stroke of the compressorproduces a vacuum in the cylinder which is filled through the inlet port27 as soon as the plunger reaches its lower position, the compressionstroke discharging the compressed gas into the header 36 and through thepipe 37 to the separator 31 wherein, should any liquid particles such asoil be carried by the moving gas, separation occurs and the compressedgas passes through the pipe 38 to the condenser. Meanwhile the movementof the clutch into engaged position opens the valve 46 and permits aflow of cooling water through the condenser, the cooling water thenpassing through the water jacket of the compressor and out through thewaste pipe 49. As soon as the compressed gas enters the condenser, itstemperature is reduced thus producing liquetaction, the liquid passinginto the reducing valve 41 where expansion takes place and the liquidagain becomes a gas having refrigerating qualities, the gas beingconducted through the pipe 43, scale trap 44 and to the inlet ports tothe cylinders oi the compressor. The scale trap 44 collects and rctainsany scale which may separate from the inner surface of the various partsof the apparatus or other foreign substances in the gas so that when thegas enters thek compressor, it is in a state to be handled without riskof injury to the cylinder' walls, plungers, or other parts of thecompressor.

It a thermostatic switch is used, the current to the motor will be cutoil? when the refrigeration has reached a suiiicient degree to operatethe thermostatic switch.

During the time the compressor is operated, the crank case will be underpressure about equal to that of the low side of the system or thepressure in the pipe 43, though when the compressor stops, the pressurein the crank case will gradually build up until the whole system isunder substantially the same pressure, the pressure of the high side ofthat portion of the system between the reducing valve 43 and thecompressor cylinders and including the condenser, being graduallyreduced and the pressure on the low side or that leading from thereducing valve to the inlet ports being gradually increased until thetwo strike a balance, this pressure balance being communicated to thecrank case ot the compressor through leakage past the plunger, thispressure with the pressure of the spring 52 serving to tighten thestutling box around `the shaft 5 against leakage, the construction ofthe compressor being such that the crank case carries a considerableamount of lubricant the level of the lubricant being nearly up to theline of the joint between the base 7 and the frame 14.

The starting of the compressor again builds up the pressure on the highside of the apparatus and consequently reduces it on the low side andconsequently reduces it in the crank case and relieves the stulling boxfrom the pressure to which it was subjected to the pressure produced bythe spring plus the pressure of the low side ot the apparatus.

During the operation of the compressor, the valve may be opened for ashort time and any accumulation of oil in the separator 3l will be atonce transferred to the crank case of the compressor due to the tactthat the separator 31 is under the high side pressure while the crankcase is under the low side pressure, the difference serving to cause arapid transfer to the crank case after which the valve 35 may be closeduntil there has been other accumulation in the separator.

It is to be noted that all of the mechanical and moving parts of thecompressor with the exception of the cylinders and valves are car ied bythe base 7 to the end that all of the parts may lne-assembled ready -foroperation before the frame and cylinders are attached thereto, in thisway confining most llO of the machine Work and assembling of thecompressor to the base 7 and permitting easy and rapid assembling andready checking of the mountings, and movements of the parts, andproducing a structure Which is exceedingly rigid and substantial.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim:

In a refrigerating apparatus the combination of a compressor base, acylinder carrying frame mounted thereon, a gear housing carried by thebase and projecting above the joint between it and the cylinder carryingframe, a shaft journalled in the gear housing, cranks carried by theshaft, a gear earried by the shaft, cylinders carried by the cylindercarrying frame, plungers in the cylinders, plunger guides carried by thegear housing and in line With the cylinders and guiding the plungers,connections from the plungers to the cranks of the shaft, a drivingpinion below the shaft, a driver shaft for the pinion, and means fordriving the last mentioned shaft.

GEORGE MCFARLAND.

